Today I got a chance to play on my favorite pinball machine for the first time in years. It is this machine:

This is a machine based off of the Broadway Musical version of The Who’s Tommy.

First you need to know that when I was eleven or twelve my older sister, Krystie, bought us tickets to the Broadway in Columbus production of The Who’s Tommy. I had never even heard the music and I was blown away by the production, the music, everything was just amazing.

Later that year we went as a family to Cedar Point. My cousin, Lynsi, and I were given some money (I was given $40) and we were sent off to the arcade to play for an hour. As we walked in I saw it, a The Who’s Tommy Pinball Machine.

Immediately I walked over and as soon as I could exchange cash for coin I began to play. I am not a pinball wizard, but I love to play and this machine played just the way I liked. And as you played and your score rose the machine would play snippets of songs from the musical.

Before I knew it I had spent all $40 of my dollars on this machine. My mom came to find us and when she realized what had happened she forbade me from setting foot in an arcade again.

Now, for most people they would understand that she meant I should never spend money on a game like that again, but my probably neurodivergent ass took it literally. So when my friends would go into the arcade in our local mall I would wait outside for them and read a book or something (I am an elder millenial so there were no smart phones then).

When my mom found this out when I was 18 or so, she was horrified. She of course did not intend for me to literally never set foot in an arcade again. But, regardless of intention that is what I took from it.

The Who’s Tommy is still my favorite machine ( The Addams Family is a close second) in spite of all the weirdness. I remain not great at pinball, but I still love it. And I can still sing the whole soundtrack to the musical. ❤️

This machine was at the Main Branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library on loan from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. My husband took me to play it today for my birthday. It was also the Big Book Sale at the Library so I bought a bunch of books too. A good day!